Go England

"Go England" is an English 2002 single performed by The England Boys. It was written by the Virgin Radio DJ Daryl Denham and published by Mercury Records as an adaptation of The Jam's 1980 "Going Underground" song to support the England national football team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.[1][2] The song entered the British charts and reached a peak of 26 in the singles charts.[3]

"Go England"
Single by The England Boys
Released2002
StudioVirgin Radio
Genrefootball song
LabelMercury Records
Composer(s)Paul Weller
Lyricist(s)Daryl Denham

History

"Going Underground" was written in 1980. The frontman of The Jam, Paul Weller had hoped that he could adapt his music to fit a football song to support the England national football team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.[4] Weller gave permission to Daryl Denham to write new lyrics to adapt "Going Underground" into a football song in April 2002.[5] "Go England" was created as a result and was performed by the England Boys, a band which comprised a number of Virgin Radio staff and presenters which was fronted by Denham.[6][7] The song was intended to be used as the official fan's anthem for England at the tournament.[8] However that commission from The Football Association went to "We're on the Ball" by Ant & Dec.[6]

Release

"Go England" was released as a single in June 2002 with the CD release containing the original song as well as a commentary and karaoke mix.[2] The song first entered the UK Singles Chart on 8 June 2002 at number 26 however it charted below competing football songs; "Hey! Baby" by DJ Ötzi and "Goldenballs (Mr Beckham to You)" by Bell & Spurling.[9] The following two weeks it fell to numbers 46 and 52 before exiting the charts after three weeks.[3]

References
  1. "Songs for the summer". BBC Sport. 25 April 2002. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  2. "The England Boys - Go England (CD)". Discogs.com. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  3. "Go England". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  4. "Fra Jam-undergrunn til fotball-VM" (in Norwegian). NRK. 22 April 2002. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  5. Adam Sweeting. "That was the modern world". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  6. "Week ending June 8th 2002". Chart Watch. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  7. Betts, Graham (2004). Collins Complete UK Hit Singles 1952–2004. Collins. ISBN 9780007179312. Retrieved 9 July 2018 – via Google Books.
  8. "Gehören Fußball und Musik zusammen?" (in German). Intro.de. 23 April 2002. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  9. "Will enjoys second UK number one". Irish Examiner. 2 June 2002. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
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